Israeli troops battling Hamas on outskirts of Rafah. Will a truce stop assault?

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the Israel-Hamas war for Wednesday, May 8. For the latest news on the conflict, see our live updates file for Thursday, May. 9

Battles raged between Israeli troops and Hamas militants around Rafah on Wednesday as global leaders clung to hopes that a truce could avert a full-scale invasion of the southern Gaza city, which is sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians.

“The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble. We stand on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions,” Rafah Mayor Ahmed Al-Sofi said, urging the international community to intervene.

As the fighting on the outskirts of Rafah intensified, Israel indicated there were no signs of a breakthrough in Egyptian-mediated talks on a cease-fire. But the nation was keeping its delegation of midlevel negotiators at the Cairo meeting that includes members of Hamas.

An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that CIA Director William Burns was in Israel meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a possible suspension of the Israeli military operation in Rafah in return for a hostage release. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that the White House believes Israeli and Hamas negotiators were in position to "close the gap" in the talks.

Hamas announced Monday that it had accepted a three-phase truce offer, but Israel said the proposal had been altered and rejected it. A senior Hamas official told AFP on Wednesday that the latest round of negotiations would be “decisive” and that the militant group "will not give up any of our people’s rights.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly said an invasion of Rafah, overwhelmed by more than 1 million Palestinians who fled the violence elsewhere in the enclave, is crucial to crushing Hamas. President Joe Biden and most world leaders for weeks have been urging Israel to cancel plans for the assault.

Netanyahu has pledged to destroy Hamas since October, when the militant group led the assault on Israel that killed almost 1,200 people. Almost 35,000 Palestinians have died in the resulting Israeli attack on Gaza, the enclave's health ministry reports. Israel claims to have killed more than 12,000 militants.

Israel seizes Rafah crossing: Says it's a 'significant step' for crushing Hamas:

Developments:

∎ An Israeli airstrike "eliminated" Ahmed Ali, commander of the Hamas naval force in Gaza City, the Israeli military said. Ali promoted offensive activities against Israeli territory and attacks against soldiers in the Gaza Strip, the military said.

∎ Gaza health workers said they uncovered at least 49 bodies in a mass grave at Al-Shifa hospital, a medical official and Hamas authorities said. The Gaza City facility was raided in March by Israeli forces.

∎ Over 10,000 Palestinians have left Rafah since Monday, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Other officials have put the number as high as 50,000.

∎ The Israeli military said it had uncovered Hamas infrastructure in several locations in eastern Rafah and its troops were conducting targeted raids.

Rafah hospital shuts down; others could close soon

The intensifying attacks on Rafah have left one of three hospitals unable to function and the others with only three days of fuel left, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday. The closure of the border crossing there continues to prevent the U.N. from bringing in fuel, he said.

Tedros warned that delivery of humanitarian aid was impeded and that, without fuel, all humanitarian operations will stop.

"At a time when fragile humanitarian operations urgently require expansion, the Rafah military operation is further limiting our ability to reach thousands of people who have been living in dire conditions without adequate food, sanitation, health services and security," Tedros said in a social media post. "This must stop now."

Israeli human rights lawyer responded: "You still have not said a word about Hamas turning EVERY hospital in Gaza into terrorist operation. Or that hostages are being held captive in Rafah. You have ZERO moral standing left."

Palestinians deny Israeli claim that border crossing is open

Although the Rafah crossing remained closed, the Israeli military said it had reopend the Kerem Shalom border crossing reopened for aid deliveries, four days after it was closed because of Hamas rocket fire. The Patestinian Border Crossings Commission denied the Israeli claim, saying no aid trucks had crossed into Gaza. The U.N. also said that no aid had passed through the border Wednesday.

At least some aid appeared to be on the way, however. Food and other essentials were being loaded onto a ship in Cyprus on Wednesday for what was expected to be the first cargo delivery using a U.S. pier built to expedite shipments to Gaza.

US withholds weapons from Israel

The Biden administration has paused the shipment of 3,500 bombs to Israel over concerns they could be used in a major military operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million refugees have been sheltering, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

"We've been very clear ... from the very beginning that Israel shouldn't launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace," Austin said at the Senate hearing. "And again, as we have assessed the situation, we have paused one shipment of high payload munitions."

"We've not made a final determination on how to proceed with that shipment."

− Francesca Chambers and Riley Beggin

Biden pauses bombs shipment to Israel: Humanitarian concerns in Gaza are the reason

Tens of thousands flee Rafah ahead of expected offensive

UNRWA director of planning Sam Rose, speaking on BBC, said half of the 100,000 people in Israel's targeted neighborhoods of Rafah are children and most have already been displaced multiple times. There is nowhere safe for them to go, he told the BBC.

"The so-called save zone cannot fit any more people," Rose said. "Half of the safe zone is on a sand dune which can't accommodate people for any length of time. The other half is in Khan Younis, which has been subject to savage, savage bombardment for the last couple weeks."

In Senate, Fetterman leads charge for Israel

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is on an island apart from his Democratic peers, most of whom have attempted to strike a balance between supporting Israel’s interest in self-defense while condemning the airstrikes and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 34,500 people and created dire humanitarian conditions.

Fetterman, known for showing up to work each day in a Carhartt hoodie and gym shorts, peppers conversation with profanity and takes potshots at the “losers” and “sleazeballs” he feels need to be called out. And he won’t mince words when it comes to Israel. In the months since the Israel-Hamas war began, Fetterman has become one of his party’s most outspoken supporters of Israel. Read more here.

− Riley Beggin and Bruce Siwy

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel war live updates: Israel sees no breakthrough in talks